Cyberattacks on Supermarket Refrigerators Spread Across Europe
Supermarkets in Germany, Romania and the United Kingdom reported that their refrigeration systems had temperatures raised during cyberattacks on Monday, 2 November. Al Jazeera reported that at least 11 European countries have been affected.
Nine EU countries reported supermarket problems on Monday: Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden. On Tuesday, four supermarkets in Germany and six in Romania were reported affected.
In Romania, Dan Cimpean, director of the National Cyber Security Directorate, said he does not suspect a state actor was behind the attacks. He described the supermarket hacks as "semi-amateurish" and said no other infrastructure had been compromised. Al Jazeera
In Belgium, federal prosecutors opened an investigation after dozens of stores across several grocery chains reported refrigeration failures. In Italy, about 20 supermarkets were affected, and the government held talks on Tuesday with intelligence service heads and the National Cybersecurity Agency.
Sweden's Coop said refrigerators and freezers at seven of its stores, affected overnight, had been connected to older 4G mobile networks. In the United Kingdom, Richard Horne, chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre, said hackers tried to target small meat-processing firms, with minimal impact.
EU spokesperson Thomas Regnier said the supermarket hacks are "not isolated incidents" and that EU agencies are talking with national authorities on a joint response. The EU has described the attacks as a deliberate attempt to disrupt the food supply chain. Euronews
Earlier attacks on supermarkets were reported in October. Reuters reported that French supermarket chain Intermarche was hit by a cyberattack targeting 150 stores, and that hackers raised the temperature of refrigerators and freezers at French supermarkets to as high as 50 degrees Celsius. The European Commission said a cyberattack on supermarkets in France, Belgium and the Netherlands resulted in huge losses.
